


Subject to Change

by internationalDolphin



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bullying, Fluff, Just some cute stuff as Sal goes through life tbh, more tags will be added as needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-03-09 06:46:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18911692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/internationalDolphin/pseuds/internationalDolphin
Summary: Life had a funny way of throwing curveballs at him. Some twists and turns astray from his path were what drew them together. A bad day had twisted itself into something greater than he could ever imagine. If there's one thing it had taught him, it was that choice had such a domino effect on his reality. It could open new doors and cushion the ones that closed. He hoped this one would stay open as long as possible.Drabbles that take a glimpse at Sal and Gizmo's relationship throughout his life.





	1. Happenstance

Dumb luck was probably the best way to describe their first meeting. Fate just seemed a little too set in stone. Sal liked to think he had a better handle on his destiny than fate would allow. His choices led him down paths that would make the stars align some type of way to cause the events in his life, but his choices were subject to change. That particular afternoon, he’d taken a few extra turns and hopped a couple of fences on his way home in an effort to avoid the pack of kids that liked to mess with him after the school day. He ended up far out of his way, a few blocks off of his normal route. It meant he’d get home late, closer to sunset than he’d like. With a sigh, he adjusted his bag on his back, looked over his shoulder to make sure he’d lost them, and continued on his way. It took him a moment to properly get his bearings again, but he figured out where he was with relative ease.

He decided to stick to alleyways for a little while, his brow creased under his prosthesis. The day hadn’t been an easy one. He was antsy, stomach tight from nerves. The boy had grown a thick skin over the years. Kids could be brutal, but his passive kindness was usually enough to deter the less adamant bullies. Perhaps it was just the stress of the testing season getting to everyone, but they’d been considerably more aggressive than usual. He could handle the teasing and occasional shoving, but some days they had a tendency to go too far. A few of them had gotten very close to taking his mask off during their lunch break, and were hellbent in trying again once school was out. Adrenaline and fear had vaulted him over nearly every obstacle in front of him in his effort to get away. It left a bad taste in his mouth, had him flinching at every sound around him, paranoid that they might end up catching him. 

The sound of rustling to his left had him freezing for a moment. Azure orbs darted to the source, quickly scanning the area as he came to a halt. He stood there for what felt like an eternity, until a muddy orange pair of ears poked out from behind a few garbage bags. He stared dumbly at the feline in front of him until his panicking mind put together what was happening. With a soft grin, he knelt down, hand outstretched to entice the cat. It looked to be a kitten still, and curiously padded over to sniff at him. It wasn’t until the cat nuzzled his hand that he allowed himself to pet it. 

Sal let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding when he felt its rumbling purr against his palm. The cat mewed benignly at him, rubbing against his legs affectionately. It was cute, but the cat didn’t smell particularly pleasant. Rooting around through stale garbage didn’t lend itself well to the poor stray. Figuring this was the end of that, Sal gripped the straps of his bag and continued on his walk home. To his pleasant surprise, the cat trailed along with him, chirping up every now and then when it felt another round of petting was in order. It followed him out of the alleyway. It followed him past the grocer, the barber, a park, and his go-to corner store. It followed him through the gate that led to his father's apartment. When he got to the door, he was at a crossroads with himself. His dad wouldn’t be happy about him letting a stray in. And neither of them were around much to take care of the cat. As soon as he opened the door, however, the cat slipped through the crack and made his way inside. Sal signed, unable to bring himself to kick him out. So he shut the door behind him and tried to figure out if bathing cats was a thing that could happen.

As he started to draw the bath, he realized that all of those extra turns and hopped fences were what led him to find this stray kitten covered in garbage. Perhaps it was dumb luck. Maybe it was fate’s doing. Whatever it was, he supposed it was the happiest ending he could ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only my second work on this website. If I've tagged anything incorrectly, please let me know! I'd love to hear constructive criticism also, as I'm a little out of practice with writing. Updates will be sporadic.


	2. Tuna Cans and Lonliness

Shopping lists weren’t really a thing for he and his father. Neither of them were particularly great at organization, and neither of them were any good at cooking to begin with. Their usual shopping haul consisted of readymade meals, snacks, spam, bottles of alcohol, and occasionally eggs. Sal asking for a few cans of tuna wasn’t incredibly unheard of. Perhaps a little unusual, seeing as he never seemed particularly fond of tuna sandwiches in the past. But his father complied, adding five cans to the cart. When he wasn’t looking, Sal added three more. Enough to get his cat through the week, at least. Henry hadn’t noticed, and Sal figured it would stay that way. He rarely paid much mind to what his son was up to. It gave him a lot of room to get into trouble, but Sal tried his best to make good choices. He sort of felt indebted to his father to keep a low profile. 

To Sal’s surprise, he managed to get away with it for a while. Gizmo, named so because of his markings and resemblance to a character from one of Sal’s favorite childhood movies, spent the days in his room while he was at school. On the weekends, Sal would watch cartoons with the cat, both taking up half of the tiny bed. After two weeks of trying to hide Gizmo from his dad, something finally gave. 

Henry had grown mildly suspicious of his son’s constant need for tuna. As much as he was asking for, he’d never seen the boy eat a single can. They just disappeared from the cupboard as the week went on. But it wasn’t until one of his days off that he put together what was happening. Sal was at school, and Henry could hear noises running in his room. It sounded like he’d left the TV on. Henry went in to turn it off and stood gobsmacked in the doorway. 

Sitting on Sal’s bed was a cat, splayed out comfortably with the remote next to him. A loud action movie was playing on screen, and the cat in question seemed downright annoyed that his movie session has been interrupted. He looked down at his flask for a second, trying to piece together if this was a drunken hallucination or not. He supposed he hadn’t had that much to drink.

Sal came home that afternoon and headed straight to his room to greet Gizmo. He dropped his bag next to his door and frowned when he didn’t see the cat immediately. He began to search for him, under his bed, in the closet, under the covers. The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him had him freezing, turning to face his father in the doorway. The man had his arms crossed, brow quirked at his son. “What are you looking for, bud?”

Sal was at a loss for words, struggling to make a sound as he gaped dumbly at his dad. Henry let out a slow sigh and shook his head, “I threw that cat outta here. You know we can’t afford that right now, Sal.” His words were slightly slurred, but said with a gentleness that didn’t really reflect his actions. It took a few ticks before the gravity of the situation sunk in. Sal felt the world stop turning as he let out a breathless sigh.. Gizmo was gone. His days would be void of a companionship he hadn’t known he needed so dearly. Sal tried hard to reason with himself. Of course it wouldn’t work out. And he’s only known the cat for little more than two weeks. This was bound to happen eventually. Try as he might to think his way through this, he felt his eyes start to prickle with tears. Sal liked to think he wasn’t so easy to make cry, but he couldn’t have stopped them if he tried. 

Henry was a bit slow to the catch. In his own mind, it was in both of their best interests to get rid of the cat. They couldn’t take care of it. It could starve if they ran out of food. It could get out and run away, and he knew that would tear Sal up inside. He didn’t really think their landlord would take kindly to a cat anyway. It wasn’t until about the fourth sniffle that his inebriated mind realized what he’d done.

Henry Fisher was a lot of things. A dedicated employee. A lenient and (mostly) understanding father. A terrible cook. A connoisseur of coffee. An abuser of alcohol. But he wasn’t an unkind man. Things were… rocky. Between he and Sal. There was a weight of guilt and slight resentment on both sides of their relationship. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he found himself at a loss for how to handle moments where it behooved him to truly act as a father should. Like right then. When his son was desperately trying to hold back tears because of something he did. Henry let out a slow breath, a thick feeling of remorse coating his stomach. He made a mistake.

He could sit and comfort his son. Reassure him that everything would be fine, and that Gizmo was with his cat friends in whatever alleyway Sal had found him in in the first place. Or. He could be a man and a father and fix the mess he’d made. He swallowed, trying to will himself to sober up faster as he tried to come up with a game plan.

“Tell you what, bud. We’ll set out a can’a tuna and some water outside on the porch. If your cat comes back, maybe we can give him another chance.” 

Sal was still caught up in the unexpected onslaught of emotions. He blinked at the man, speechless for a long time. When he did find his voice, he was afraid to speak. Terrified that he’d break. So he nodded, looking away from the man. Maybe Gizmo would come back. Maybe things would be okay.

Before he could let himself spiral, he felt arms around him. Holding him close. He looked up at his father, finally getting ahold of his thoughts. The last few moments seemed to have gone on for hours. He didn’t realize how drained he was from it until he leaned his head against his father’s shoulder. Henry murmured reassurances to him, rubbing circles into Sal’s back. He never claimed to be the perfect father, but this was certainly one of his top five parental blunders.

\-- 

Dinner was quiet. Sal had his mask pushed up just so it exposed his mouth, but his head was tilted down far enough that his father couldn’t particularly see it. Even on some of his best days, he avoided taking his face off around his dad. And today certainly hadn’t been his best day. He spent a majority of dinner pushing the food around his plate. Henry didn’t quite know how to break the silence. Eventually, he spoke, voice quiet.

“How was school, buddy?”

Sal looked up a little, perhaps taken from his own thoughts. “Huh? Oh. It was alright.” 

Henry sighed, scratching at his stubble. Sal never seemed to want to talk about school, and Henry really didn’t blame him. He knew how cruel kids could be. So he dropped it, taking his dishes over to the sink to be forgotten about. A trill from the window made him nearly drop his plate. Gizmo was sitting outside, a bit annoyed that they had the audacity to keep the window closed. Sal looked up, bounding out of his seat immediately. Before his father could fully react, he’d already let Gizmo in. The cat hopped down to the floor and began to purr, alternating between headbutting Sal’s legs and headbutting Henry’s. The man let out a small sigh. Maybe they could slip this one past the landlord for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote and rewrote this about four times because I just wasn't happy with it. I don't know that I am, but thank you for reading it regardless c: I'll try and get more chapters out soonish. If y'all have any requests for scenarios, feel free to drop them in the comments! I might not be able to do all of them, but I'll surely try c:


End file.
